Fitchburg mayor says opponent’s plan on teacher hiring is illegal

Mayor Lisa A. Wong said her opponent’s proposal to give preferential treatment to Fitchburg State University students for open teaching positions is unconstitutional.

Ms. Wong said the debate Wednesday night at the college was not the first occasion when City Councilor Joseph D. Solomito, her mayoral rival, talked about his plan to hire FSU students for city teaching jobs.

“His statements are false, and his plan for preferential hiring violates the Constitution,” said Ms. Wong.

“It is dangerous for a councilor to claim that he spoke to people when he did not, and to claim that they said that something that violates the U.S. Constitution can be done in Fitchburg.

“This gives the public the false impression that we are violating people’s rights and will discourage people who hope to one day work in the city of Fitchburg.”

City Solicitor Michael Ciota provided the mayor with his opinion on the proposal yesterday, saying it violated the privileges and immunities clause of the Constitution. He cited the 1984 case of United Building and Construction Trades Council of Camden County v. Mayor and Council of the City of Camden.

“This issue has come up before,” Mr. Ciota wrote in his opinion.

“I believe in or about 1997 I gave a formal opinion that such a job preference would be unconstitutional … I understand that this issue was recently raised, at which time it was stated that I had given an opinion that an ordinance to require job preferences to FSU students would be legal. However, I have not discussed this issue with any city councilor since my original opinion in or about 1997.”

On the phone yesterday when called about the issue, Mr. Solomito, a lawyer, said it was the first he had heard of his proposal violating constitutional law.

“I made the proposal back in January and never heard it violated any issue before,” he said.

“I talked to the president of the university and he thought it would be a good idea, and we talked about it since and no one ever said it violated any law.”

Mr. Solomito said he will look into the matter with constitutional law attorneys.

“The intent was to make an incentive for university students to stay in Fitchburg,” he explained. “Before I announced I was running for mayor, I sat down with the president of the university to discuss if all things are equal, the superintendent’s office would hire Fitchburg State students similar to hiring Fitchburg residents for police and fire positions. I’m not sure why that does not come under same clause.”

But Ms. Wong said that when it comes to public safety, it is a whole other ballgame.

“They have to live within a certain-mile radius for public safety purposes — distance is critical to life and safety,” she said.

“The police and fire departments are paramilitary organizations that require certain qualifications to carry a gun and so on. The city has less ability to pick police officers and firefighters than it does teachers. We are given a civil service list.”